The sexual harassment scandal surrounding Harvey Weinstein deepened on Tuesday when three women accused the Hollywood producer of rape in an article in the New Yorker, allegations he "unequivocally denied" through a spokeswoman.

The accusations come just days after nearly a dozen women recounted sexual harassment by Weinstein – producer of the Oscar-winning films Shakespeare in Love, The Artist and The English Patient, and patron to Quentin Tarantino and Steven Soderbergh – to the New York Times and other publications, causing the Weinstein production company to fire its once formidable co-founder.

On Tuesday the actors Gwyneth Paltrow and Angelina Jolie joined the women in making accusations of sexual harassment against Weinstein.

Asia Argento, an Italian actor and director, Lucia Evans, a former aspiring actor, and one unnamed woman accused Weinstein of forcing them to engage in sex or sex acts in the New Yorker piece, authored by Ronan Farrow. The son of the actor Mia Farrow, Ronan Farrow previously helped reignite his sister Dylan's accusations that their father, Woody Allen, groomed and sexually assaulted her as a child, an allegation Allen denies.